Tegucigalpa (Agenzia Fides) - In Honduras one third of today’s generation of school-goers can access a secure educational space. The general violence that the country lives obliges families to decide whether to hide their children at home or help them escape, most of the time alone. The warning comes from the Norvegian Refugee Council (NRC). "The world cannot stand still, watching children being killed on their way to school, or keep silent when criminal gangs are controlling school territories using fear" says the director for NRC in Honduras.
According to information gathered by Fides, currently at least 174,000 have been forced to leave the Country. Parents send threatened children off alone in an attempt to save their lives. Many minors try to make their way to the USA. The US government recorded more than 10,000 cases of unaccompanied Honduran children between October 2015 and September of 2016.
Honduras has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. During the first half of 2016, the rate of homicide victims aged between 10 and 14 years was 61 per 100,000 in-habitants. The rate increases dramatically from 15 to 19 years of age, with 102.8 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, according to reports from the NRC. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 16/12/2016)